The quality of your board’s meetings will depend on the amount of work that members complete prior to each meeting. Meetings held online are more productive and efficient when participants are prepared. A well-prepared team is also more likely to adhere to the agenda and make sure that they don’t get sidetracked by a tangent.
It’s crucial to communicate clearly to board members who are located far away how they should participate in meetings. It’s best, for example, to remind participants to turn off their phones when speaking and only speak when they are asked to. This will stop people from talking over one another or leaving the conference without feeling heard. Before starting a meeting, the convenor should ask participants if there are any tech issues they require assistance with.
It’s also beneficial to include the rules for meetings that are virtual in the materials for board member orientation to ensure that everyone has thorough understanding of what’s required of them prior, during, and following the meeting. For instance, it’s important to distribute the agenda ahead of time and to follow up with participants one day or morning before the meeting to confirm the details, then provide them with the Zoom or meeting link in a second time, and remind them of any other preferences at the meeting (such as asking attendees to listen to the meeting from a quiet area to minimize distractions). It is also recommended to add a placeholder for an executive session to each best practices for agenda in board meetings agenda item, and to include this at the start of the meeting to avoid confusion about whether there is an executive session.
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